As the ship was going down in September, I was thinking along with Redbird Nation, "Eh. Even if they hold on to make the playoffs, it will be the same old story as the last few years." After all, this was the Cardinals sixth trip to the playoffs in the last seven years, and there was only one World Series appearance. And that was no fun as they were run over by the Red Sox juggernaut. To top it off, in that run, we just went through back-to-back 100 win teams with only a pennant to sh0w. This team wasn't better than those teams, were they?
Offensively, it appeared that when Pujols wasn't hitting, the Cardinal offense was non-existant. They relied way too much on the homer as they had a hard time manufacturing runs. Pitching-wise, Mulder and long time Cardinal closer, Isringhausen were knocked out due to injury. Marquis blew a flat and Weaver was just starting to find his feet on the mound, but he didn't look playoff ready. Going into the playoffs, I was hoping Carpenter would be his spectular best, Suppan would be solid, and the offense would find a way to score against typical playoff pitching.
Further still, I had a feeling in my gut that this would be the final run for the Cardinals as we have known them. Jim Edmonds, who is right up there with with Willie McGee as the greatest center fielder ever, was looking more like an aging superstar who will retire at the end of the season. Rolen and Eckstein were also battling nagging injuries. Isringhausen and Mulder were lost and I just wondered whether this was the year Walt Jocketty would just tear the thing down and start over with a new nucleus built around Pujols.
When this 83-win team started their post-season run, I thought they would beat the Padres, because, well, the Cardinals always beat the Padres. But, would they be able to beat the Mets in the NLCS? Nah... Too much to hope for.
I was never so happy to be so wrong. As the Cardinals know all too well, it's not the best regular season team that wins the championship. It's the team that is playing the best in the end. In the playoffs, it's pitching and defense (or lack of) that wins championships. (By the way, Pujols has got to be proud fo his Gold Glove that just solidifies his place in the Hall of Fame.)
And that brings me to another point. We, in Cardinal Nation, consider ourselves to be some of the brightest in the baseball world. We know the game, support our team, respect the competition, but most of all, we know the game. Tony LaRussa has been with the Cardinals since 1996. He's a man from California who has had success everywhere he has managed. But, he always came off as a guy who was too smart for his own good. He would make 4 pitching changes in an inning for no apparent reason. He experimented with batting the pitcher 8th. And, with all the great regular season success he had for the Cardinals. He hadn't produced the prize we wanted the most.
For some odd reason, Cardinal Nation always compared Tony LaRussa to Whitey Herzog. And, NOBODY could be Whitey. So, I and many other Cardinal fans rode LaRussa hard. We expected the impossible. To Tony, I will know say that I was wrong. Tony is not only one of the greatest Cardinal managers ever, he is a future Hall-0f-Famer. He has won just as many championships (for the Cardinals) as Whitey did and has certainly produced more consistent success for the Cardinals than Whitey did. We Cardinal fans have been very lucky to witness two managerial geniuses in Whitey and LaRussa.
But, this year, Tony seemed to be pushed more than ever before by the circumstances with the team and he responded like a hall-of-famer. He managed a makeshift bullpen with a remarkable feel. They were a bunch of unproven young arms who were discovering their role in September going into the playoffs. Maybe LaRussa remembered the "Nasty Boys" of the 1990 Reds that beat his A's in the World Series, but the 2006 Cardinal bullpen had that kind of feel.
The way he dealt with the Rolen situation was genius. He benched him in Game 2 of the NLCS without telling him. His replacement Scott Spiezio produced huge in that pivotal game (where the Cardinals a gritty game with Carpenter getting knocked around the yard). But, Rolen, who was in a slump, came back to play with an edge that helped the Cardinals on their championship run. All the buttons LaRussa pushed in the series seemed to be gold.
I haven't seen the Cardinals win the whole thing since I was 11. It's nice to see the team that I cheer for the most win it again.
And, suddenly, I'm not so grim about the future. Yes, there are a lot of ifs, but it's not far fetched to see the Cardinals make their yearly run in 2007 and beyond. Pitching is the number one priority for any club. If the Cardinals resign Weaver (should be no problem since you would think Weaver would want to stay with Duncan for a while as he continues to resurrect his career) and resign the dependable Suppan and if Mulder comes back from his injury, the Cardinals are looking at a starting rotation of Carpenter, Mulder, Weaver, Suppan, and Wainwright or Reyes. That rotation will compete with anybodys, even the Mets' (and they have a lot of ifs). In the bullpen, Izzy could be back and another lefty would be nice.
The Redbird infield is certainly set as Molina has established himself as a premier catcher. Gold Glove winners, Rolen and Pujols will be back next year, as well as Eckstein. Belliard will more than likely go, but if nothing else, Miles has proven to be a good everyday second baseman.
The outfield is probably the biggest question mark for the 2007 Cardinal. Even if Edmonds doesn't retire, he won't last the season and will be handled like Larry Walker in 2004. So, the Cardinals will have to find an everyday center fielder. Taguchi is good, but is much more effective off the bench. Duncan will take lots of fielding practice as he comes into his role in right field. Encarnacion didn't play well last year and might not be back. The Cardinals will certainly see some new faces in the outfield next year.
I love this game!
